Kurylyk, Barret

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10222/73403

Barret Kurylyk

Assistant Professor
Email: Barret.Kurylyk@dal.ca

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Open Access
Coastal groundwater model calibration using filtered and amplified hydraulic information retained in the freshwater–saltwater interface Postprint
(Springer, 2022-07-22) Pavlovksii, Igor; Cantelon, Julia A.; Kurylyk, Barret L.
Coastal groundwater flow is driven by an interplay between terrestrial and marine forcings. One of the distinguishing features in these settings is the formation of a freshwater lens due to the density difference between fresh and saline groundwater. The present study uses data collected on Sable Island, Canada—a remote sand island in the northwest Atlantic Ocean—to highlight the potential of exploiting freshwater lens geometry for calibration of numerical groundwater flow models in coastal settings. Three numerical three-dimensional variable-density groundwater flow models were constructed for different segments of the island, with only one model calibrated using the freshwater–saltwater interface derived from an electromagnetic geophysical survey. The other two (uncalibrated) models with the same parameterisation as the calibrated model successfully reproduced the interpreted interface depth and location of freshwater ponds at different parts of the island. The successful numerical model calibration, based solely on the geophysically derived interface depth, is enabled by the interface acting as an amplified version of the water table, which reduces the relative impact of the interpreted depth uncertainty. Furthermore, the freshwater–saltwater interface is far more inertial than the water table, making it less sensitive to short-term forcings. Such “noise-filtering” behaviour enables the use of the freshwater–saltwater interface for calibration even in dynamic set- tings where selection of representative groundwater heads is challenging. The completed models provide insights into island freshwater lens behaviour and highlight the role of periodic beach inundation and wave overheight in driving short-term water-table variability, despite their limited impact on the interface depth.
Open Access
Drone-based characterization of intertidal spring cold-water plume dynamics Postprint
(Wiley, 2021-06-01) KarisAllen, Jason; Kurylyk, Barret L.
Open Access
Using Heat to Trace Vertical Water Fluxes in Sediment Experiencing Concurrent Tidal Pumping and Groundwater Discharge
(Wiley/American Geophysical Union, 2021-02) LeRoux, Nicole; Kurylyk, Barret; Briggs, Martin; Irvine, Dylan; Tamborski, Joseph; Bense, Victor
Heat has been widely applied to trace groundwater-surface water exchanges in inland environments, but it is infrequently applied in coastal sediment where head oscillations induce periodicity in water flux magnitude/direction and heat advection. This complicates interpretation of temperatures to estimate water fluxes. We investigate the convolution of thermal and hydraulic signals to assess the viability of using heat as a tracer in environments with tidal head oscillations superimposed on submarine groundwater discharge. We first generate sediment temperature and head time series for conditions ranging from no tide to mega-tidal using a numerical model (SUTRA) forced with periodic temperature and tidal head signals. We then analyze these synthetic temperature time series using heat tracing software (VFLUX2 and 1DTempPro) to evaluate if conventional terrestrial approaches to infer fluxes from temperatures are applicable for coastal settings. We consider high-frequency water flux variability within a tidal signal and averaged over tidal signals. Results show that VFLUX2 analytical methods reasonably estimated the mean discharge fluxes in most cases but could not reproduce the flux variability within tidal cycles. The model results further reveal that high-frequency time series of water fluxes varying in magnitude and direction can be accurately estimated if paired temperatures and hydraulic heads are analyzed using numerical models (e.g., 1DTempPro) that consider both dynamic hydraulic gradients and thermal signals. These results point to the opportunity to incorporate pressure sensors within heat tracing instrumentation to better assess sub-daily flux oscillations and associated reactive processes.
Open Access
Characterization of contrasting flow and thermal regimes in two adjacent subarctic alpine headwaters in northwest Canada
(Wiley, 2020-07-15) Fabris, Luca; Rolick, Ryan; Kurylyk, Barret; Carey, Sean
Open Access
Quantitative guidance for efficient vertical flow measurements at the sediment-water 4 interface using temperature-depth profiles
(Wiley, 2020-01-30) Irvine, Dylan J.; Kurylyk, Barret L.; Briggs, Martin A.
Open Access
Engineering challenges of warming
(Nature, 2019-10-29) Kurylyk, Barret L.
Open Access
Laboratory-scale assessment of a capillary barrier using fibre optic distributed temperature sensing (FO-DTS)
(Canadian Science Publishing, 2020-01-01) Wu, Robert; Martin, Vincent; McKenzie, Jeffrey; Broda, Stefan; Bussière, Bruno; Aubertin, Michel; Kurylyk, Barret L.
Open Access
Guidelines for cold-regions groundwater numerical modeling
(Wiley, 2020-11) Lamontagne-Hallé, Pierrick; McKenzie, Jeffrey; Kurylyk, Barret; Molson, John; Lyon, Laura
The impacts of ongoing climate warming on cold‐regions hydrogeology and groundwater resources have created a need to develop groundwater models adapted to these environments. Although permafrost is considered relatively impermeable to groundwater flow, permafrost thaw may result in potential increases in surface water infiltration, groundwater recharge, and hydrogeologic connectivity that can impact northern water resources. To account for these feedbacks, groundwater models that include the dynamic effects of freezing and thawing on ground properties and thermal regimes have been recently developed. However, these models are more complex than traditional hydrogeology numerical models due to the inclusion of nonlinear freeze–thaw processes and complex thermal boundary conditions. As such, their use to date has been limited to a small community of modeling experts. This article aims to provide guidelines and tips on cold‐regions groundwater modeling for those with previous modeling experience.
Open Access
Heat: An overlooked tool in the practicing hydrogeologist's toolbox
(Wiley, 2019-05-30) Kurylyk, Barret L.; Irvine, Dylan J.
Open Access
Theory, tools, and multidisciplinary applications for tracing groundwater fluxes from temperature profiles
(Wiley, 2019-01) Kurylyk, Barret L.; Irvine, Dylan J.; Bense, Victor F.
Quantifying groundwater fluxes to and from deep aquifers or shallow sediment is a critical task faced by researchers and practitioners from many environmental science disciplines including hydrology, hydrogeology, ecology, climatology, and oceanography. Groundwater discharge to inland and coastal water bodies influences their water budgets, thermal regimes, and biogeochemistry. Conversely, downward water flow from the land surface or from surface water bodies to underlying aquifers represents an important water flux that must be quantified for sustainable groundwater management. Because these vertical subsurface flows are slow and typically diffuse, they cannot be measured directly and must rather be estimated using groundwater tracers. Heat is a naturally occurring groundwater tracer that is ubiquitous in the subsurface and readily measured. Most of the academic literature has focused on groundwater temperature tracing methods capitalizing on the propagation of diel temperature sine waves into sediment beneath surface water bodies. Such methods rely on temperature–time series to infer groundwater fluxes and are typically only viable in the shallow subsurface and in locations with focused groundwater fluxes. Alternative methods that utilize temperature–depth profiles are applicable across a broader range of hydrologic environments, and point‐in‐time measurements can be quickly taken to cover larger spatial scales. Applications of these methods have been impeded due in part to the lack of understanding regarding their potential applications and limitations. Herein, we highlight relevant theory, thermal data collection techniques, and recent diverse field applications to stimulate further multidisciplinary uptake of thermal groundwater tracing methods that rely on temperature–depth profiles.
Open Access
Rethinking the use of seabed sediment temperature profiles to trace submarine groundwater flow
(AGU Wiley, 2018-05-09) Kurylyk, Barret L.; Irvine, Dylan J.; Mohammed, Aaron A.; Bense, Victor F.; Briggs, Martin A.; Loder, John W.; Geshelin, Yuri
Submarine groundwater fluxes across the seafloor facilitate important hydrological and biogeochemical exchanges between oceans and seabed sediment, yet few studies have investigated spatially distributed groundwater fluxes in deep‐ocean environments such as continental slopes. Heat has been previously applied as a submarine groundwater tracer using an analytical solution to a heat flow equation assuming steady state conditions and homogeneous thermal conductivity. These assumptions are often violated in shallow seabeds due to ocean bottom temperature changes or sediment property variations. Here heat tracing analysis techniques recently developed for terrestrial settings are applied in concert to examine the influences of groundwater flow, ocean temperature changes, and seabed thermal conductivity variations on deep‐ocean sediment temperature profiles. Temperature observations from the sediment and bottom ocean water on the Scotian Slope off eastern Canada are used to demonstrate how simple thermal methods for tracing groundwater can be employed if more comprehensive techniques indicate that the simplifying assumptions are valid. The spatial distribution of the inferred groundwater fluxes on the slope suggests a downward groundwater flow system with recharge occurring over the upper‐middle slope and discharge on the lower slope. We speculate that the downward groundwater flow inferred on the Scotian Slope is due to density‐driven processes arising from underlying salt domes, in contrast with upward slope systems driven by geothermal convection. Improvements in the design of future submarine hydrogeological studies are proposed for thermal data collection and groundwater flow analysis, including new equations that quantify the minimum detectable flux magnitude for a given sensor accuracy and profile length.
Open Access
Snowmelt infiltration and macropore flow in frozen soils: overview, knowledge gaps, and a conceptual framework
(Soil Society of America, 2018-11-08) Mohammed, Aaron A.; Kurylyk, Barret L.; Cey, Edwin E.; Hayashi, Masaki
Macropore flow in frozen soils plays a critical role in partitioning snowmelt at the land surface and modulating snowmelt-driven hydrological processes. Previous descriptions of macropore flow processes in frozen soil do not explicitly represent the physics of water and heat transfer between macropores and the soil matrix, and there is a need to adapt recent conceptual and numerical models of unfrozen macropore flow to account for frozen ground. Macropores remain air filled under partially saturated conditions, allowing preferential flow and meltwater infiltration prior to ground thaw. Nonequilibrium gravity-driven flow can rapidly transport snowmelt to depths below the frost zone or, alternatively, infiltrated water may refreeze in macropores and restrict preferential flow. As with unfrozen soils, models of water movement in frozen soil that rely solely on diffuse flow concepts cannot adequately represent unsaturated macropore hydraulics. Dual-domain descriptions of unsaturated flow that explicitly define macropore hydraulic characteristics have been successful under unfrozen conditions but need refinement for frozen soils. In particular, because pore connectivity and hydraulic conductivity are influenced by ice content, modeling schemes specifying macropore–matrix interactions and refreezing of infiltrating water are critical. This review discusses the need for research on the interacting effects of macropore flow and soil freeze–thaw and the integration of these concepts into a framework of coupled heat and water transfer. As a result, it proposes a conceptual model of unsaturated flow in frozen macroporous soils that assumes two interacting domains (macropore and matrix) with distinct water and heat transfer regimes.
Open Access
Interpreting Repeated Temperature‐Depth Profiles for Groundwater Flow
(Wiley - American Geophysical Union, 2017-10-01) Bense, Victor F.; Kurylyk, Barret L.; van Daal, Jonathan; van der Ploeg, Martine J.; Carey, Sean K.
Open Access
Tracking the subsurface signal of decadal climate warming to quantify vertical groundwater flow rates
(Wiley (AGU publications), 2017-12-28) Bense, Victor F.; Kurylyk, Barret L.
Open Access
Inferring hydraulic properties of alpine aquifers from the propagation of diurnal snowmelt signals
(AGU, 2017-05-25) Kurylyk, Barret L.; Hayashi, Masaki
Open Access
Monitoring Changes in Near-Well Hydraulic Conditions as a Means to Assess Aquifer Clogging
(American Society of Civil Engineers, 2017-02-10) Morton, Sylvie M.; MacQuarrie, Kerry T.B.; Connor, Dennis; Kurylyk, Barret L.
Open Access
Scientific briefing: quantifying streambed heat advection associated with groundwater–surface water interactions
(Wiley, 2016-03-03) Kurylyk, Barret L.; Moore, R. Daniel; MacQuarrie, Kerry T. B.
Open Access
Improved Stefan Equation Correction Factors to Accommodate Sensible Heat Storage during Soil Freezing or Thawing
(Wiley, 2016-06-07) Kurylyk, Barret L.; Hayashi, Masaki
Open Access
Discussion of: “A simple thaw-freeze algorithm for a multi-layered soil using the Stefan equation by Xie and Gough, 2013”
(Wiley, 2015-06-04) Kurylyk, Barret L.
Open Access
Preserving, augmenting, and creating cold-water thermal refugia in rivers: concepts derived from research on the Miramichi River, New Brunswick (Canada)
(Wiley, 2015-09-15) Kurylyk, Barret L.; MacQuarrie, Kerry T. B.; Linnansaari, Tommi; Cunjak, Richard A.; Curry, R. Allen